Special Issues

UPDATED: Tire-Slashing Spree May Have Started in Texas

January 4, 2013, 10:00 am

By Peter St. Cyr

A Texas couple says they are not surprised to hear that
former Republican Congressional candidate Gary Smith has been charged with
felony damage to property and aggravated stalking after allegedly slashing the
car tires of his political opponents in Albuquerque.

Kenneth and Esther Propps, who lived next door to Smith in
El Paso for more than a decade, claim Smith has been damaging their tires and
home since 2008. SFR has obtained copies of multiple police reports detailing
their complaints (scroll down to read them).

That’s when Propps says he heard a loud hissing sound coming
from outside.

After pulling on clothes, Propps ran outside to check his
tires and spotted Smith trying to run away.

“I grabbed him and tried to hold onto him until the police
arrived,” Propps says.

But Propps says Smith swung at him, cutting his left arm
with a sharp blade.

“Normally, he would use an ice pick,” Propps says. “But this
time he had a blade.”

Bleeding, Propps tried to keep hold of Smith, but says Smith
somehow managed to hurdle himself over a wrought-iron fence. When he did,
Propps’ right arm was punctured, he says.

In pain, Propps says he chased after Smith but lost him
running down the street. During the altercation, Propps says Smith’s face mask
slipped up to the top of his head, allowing Propps to recognize his longtime
neighbor.

“Something is wrong with him,” Propps tells SFR. “I don’t
know what is going through his mind. I think he strikes out at people he
doesn’t like or people he thinks hurt him.”

Later that morning, Propps says, Smith returned and went
inside his home.

“He acted liked nothing had happened,” Propps says.

When police returned to question Smith, Propps says they
couldn’t get him to come out of his house. Instead, they talked to him through
a window.

“I was disappointed they didn’t arrest him right there,”
Propps says. “They said they didn’t have enough proof. They always said they
didn’t have enough proof.”

Propps believes Smith started lashing out his family after
an air conditioning panel was blown off Propps’ roof in a summer wind storm in
June 2008.

Smith claimed the incident damaged his house. But when a judge
determined it was an act of nature, Smith appealed.

“After he lost a second time in court, he just wouldn’t
leave us alone. He started harassing us all the time,” Propps says.

That includes the morning in January 2009 when Esther Propps
awoke to the smell of smoke in their bedroom.

Police found flammable ignition fluid used to ignite fire on
several exterior walls and launched an arson investigation. But no arrest was
ever made. The Propps tell SFR they spent over $10,000 repairing their home
from the fire and water damage.

“He put us through hell,” Propps says. “I hate to think
about what could have happened if my wife didn’t wake up.”

Esther Propps wrote a detailed letter to police after her
car tires were slashed six times at Providence Hospital, where she worked. In a
signed statement to the El Paso Police Department, she wrote that hospital
security staff showed her security video.

She also told police she was tired of Smith calling the
Animal Control and Environmental Department to report that their yard was full
of dog waste.

“He use to call them every week, two or three times, telling
them our yard stunk,” Esther Propps says. “Every time they would come out to
inspect, they found no violations.”

Esther Propps told police she caught Smith throwing dog
waste into her yard and driveway and heard him tell her husband “he was tired
of our Mexican trash.”

The Propps also called police to their home on Valentine’s
Day 2009 after finding red paint tossed on to their side walls and rock garden.

Police investigated and suspected Smith, but did not make an
arrest.

Instead, the Propps say police kept warning them not to
retaliate against Smith.

SFR attempted to contact El Paso police for their comment on
the Propps case, but they did not return our calls.

Back in Albuquerque, Smith is expected in court this afternoon
for a conditions of release hearing.

Police Detective Lorenzo Garcia says he plans to tell the
judge about the Propps story and hopes it adds weight to his request that Smith
remain on a jail hold until a mental evaluation is completed.

DOCUMENTS: Read police reports filed by the Propps between 2008-2012.

UPDATE Jan. 4, 2:45 pm: Setting a cash bail of $100,000, an Albuquerque Metropolitan Court judge put Smith behind bars on Friday on new charges for violating an order that said Smith must stay away from the residence of Janice Arnold-Jones, his opponent in the First Congressional District GOP primary. She alleges Smith had been slashing her tires for months following his unsuccessful effort to get his name on the primary ballot.

APD Detective Garcia tells SFR Smith has two outstanding felony warrants out for his arrest in Texas, one for criminal mischief and one for aggravated assault.

"I can sleep now," that Smith is behind bars, says Arnold-Jones' husband, John Jones. Jones alleges he spotted Smith near his home early Tuesday.